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JP Flores
Education
PhD Candidate, Bioinformatics & Computational Biology
UNC Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
2025 - 2021
- Graduate Certificate in Innovation for the Public Good
BA, Cellular & Molecular Biology (Public Health Minor)
Occidental College
Los Angeles, CA
2021 - 2017
Research Experience
Graduate Research Assistant
Phanstiel Lab (UNC-CH School of Medicine)
Chapel Hill, NC
2025 - 2022
- Using computational and wet-lab techniques to investigate the role of 3D chromatin structure in response to environmental stress
- Developing a user interface for the R/Bioconductor data visualization package, plotgardener
Undergraduate Researcher
Schulz Lab (Occidental College Department of Biology)
Los Angeles, CA
2021 - 2017
- Utilize techniques such as DNA isolation, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and HPLC to find medical relevance of venom
- Conduct fieldwork in Kauai to study and capture venomous cone snails
Professional Experience
Data Science Intern
University of Utah David Eccles School of Business Sorenson Impact Center
Salt Lake City, UT
2021 - 2020
- Work alongside the data science team to provide customized data analysis for clients, write code, learn best practices around data sharing and security, as well as create data visualizations and dashboards. Familiarity with Tidyverse set of packages within the R programming language
Student Manager of the Student Coalition for Higher Education
University of Utah David Eccles School of Business Sorenson Impact Center
Salt Lake City, UT
2021 - 2020
- student-centric solutions
Awards & Accolades
Graduate
N/A
N/A
2025 - 2021
Undergraduate
N/A
N/A
2021 - 2017
- Spotify Next Wave Award Winner (2021)
- Trevor Moawad Leadership Award (2021)
- Dean’s Award: Service (2021)
- Capstone Student Leader of the Year Award (2021)
- Lucille Y. Gilman Memorial Award (2021)
- rstudio::global(2021) Diversity Scholar (2021)
- John W. McMenamin Award (2020)
Features & Interviews
Graduate
N/A
N/A
2025 - 2021
- California private colleges fear affirmative action ban as Supreme Court prepares to rule (2023)
- Writing About Race in Biological Science (2023)
- 18 Young Scientists to Watch (2023)
- Three Win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships (2022)
- John Patrick Flores’21: National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) (2022)
Undergraduate
N/A
N/A
2021 - 2017
- New biology course explores the COVID-19 pandemic in real time (2020)
- Meet JP Flores - Occidental Baseball (2020)
- S2, Episode 1 - Off the Bench featuring Antonio Andrade and JP Flores (2020)
- OxSEA seeks to clean the ocean and educate LA’s youth (2019)
- Staying for the summer: Undergraduate Research Center provides students and faculty with summer research opportunities (2019)
Teaching Experience
I am passionate about empowering the next generation of diverse scientists, becuase talent is equally distributed but opportunity is not.
Promoting Inclusivity in the Research Environment
JEDI Leadership Fellows Program
Chapel Hill, NC
2024
- The workshop allows researchers to recognize systemic barriers to inclusion and their impacts on individuals and society, take concrete steps to build supportive relationships with those from marginalized groups, and use their advantages to promote an equitable lab environment
BCB 723 Statistical Genetics & Genomics
Curriculum in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Department of Genetics
Chapel Hill, NC
2023
How to Learn to Code
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
2023
- Summer miniseries about the basics of computer programming/coding for biological research
WinSpire Dancing with Data!
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
2023
- Using the programming language R, high school students with marginalized gender identities, worked with data from Spotify. We explored which songs are the best to dance to, do homework to, cry to, and everything in between. Students gained experience in having fun in science, data wrangling & manipulation, data visualization, and science communication
WinSpire Digging Deeper
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
2023
- Workshop covering the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in science for high school students with marginalized gender identities
Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes Tutor
Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost - UNC-CH
N/A
2023
- Relate to students in both one-on-one and group situations and articulate material in ways that create an optimal learning environment
BIO 268 Biostatistics
Occidental College Department of Biology
Los Angeles, CA
2021
Training & Certifications
Effective Mentoring Training
N/A
N/A
2022
- Foundation for developing competencies and skills in effective communication, aligning expectations, assessing progress and understanding, addressing equity and inclusion, fostering independence, cultivating ethical behavior, and being able to articulate a mentoring philosophy to others
Academic Articles
To advance equity and inclusion in science in the future, I will utilize a multi-pronged approach for change: “bottom-up” approaches such as peer mentoring and “top-down” approaches such as using my power to advocate for and implement data-driven and equity-focused policy.
Advance U.S. international diplomacy efforts by expanding eligibility in the Embassy Science Fellows Program
Journal of Science Policy and Governance
N/A
2022
- Authored with Rami Major and Rachel Cherney
Non-Academic Articles
Invited Talks
The role of 3D chromatin structure in response to environmental stress
Invited talk, McDaniel College Department of Biology
Westminster, MD
2023
the people of posit: bringing personality to R packages
posit::conf(2023)
Chicago, IL
2023
Student-Equity-Centric: A Vision for the Future of Higher Education
University of Utah David Eccles School of Business Sorenson Impact Center
Salt Lake City, UT
2021
Poster Presentations
Hyperosmotic stress induces complete rewiring of chromatin interactions
UNC 6th Annual Chromatin & Epigenetics Symposium
Chapel Hill, NC
2023
Hyperosmotic stress induces complete rewiring of chromatin interactions
Keystone Symposium: Chromatin Architecture in Human Disease & Development
Victoria, BC
2023
Hyperosmotic stress induces complete rewiring of chromatin interactions
10th Annual Mid-Atlantic PREP & IMSD Research Symposium
Blacksburg, VA
2023
Hyperosmotic stress induces complete rewiring of chromatin interactions
5th Annual Dr. Samuel M. Nabrit Conference for Early Career Scholars
Providence, RI
2023
Hyperosmotic stress induces complete rewiring of chromatin interactions
Duke Biomolecular Condensates Symposium
Durham, NC
2023
From Sequence to Activity: Synthetic Neuroexcitatory Peptides from Fish-Hunting Cone Snails
Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research
San Pedro, CA
2019
From Sequence to Activity: Synthetic Neuroexcitatory Peptides from Fish-Hunting Cone Snails
Society for Intergrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting
Austin, TX
2019
From Sequence to Activity: Synthetic Neuroexcitatory Peptides from Fish-Hunting Cone Snails
Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting
San Diego, CA
2018
Service
external service
N/A
N/A
2023 - 2017
- Biomedical Science Advisory Board Member, Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools Project Lead the Way
- Peer Mentor, Graduate Mentorship and Assistance Program Philippines (GradMAP)
- Peer Mentor, Association of Filipino Scientists in America (AFSA)
- Junior Varsity (JV) Baseball Coach, Chapel Hill High School
- Pen Pal, Letters to a Pre-Scientists
- Host/Creator, From where does it STEM?
institutional service
N/A
N/A
2023 - 2017
- NCAA Division III Baseball Team, Occidental College Dept. of Athletics
- Student-Athlete Advisory Commitee, Occidental College Dept. of Athletics
- Diversity and Equity Board, Associated Students of Occidental College
- Students for Equity & Advocacy in STEM, Occidental College
- Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI) Occidental College Dept. of Athletics
- ViSTA (Volunteers in Service of Tiger Admission), Occidental College Alumni
- Alumni Secretary, Occidental College Class of 2021
- Leadership Group, UNC Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program